


Lesson

by Elri (angelrider13)



Series: Naboo Queens [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Bail and Breha are Best Parents, Gen, Little Leia is a Storm, Sabé encourages this, Sabé teaches Leia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 16:51:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5750875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelrider13/pseuds/Elri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some lessons are taught. Others learned.</p><p>A Queen must know the difference between what she is handed and what she must reach out and take for herself.</p><p>-</p><p>“What do you do when faced with two impossible options?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> A few things to note.
> 
> First off, I've started working full time. So updates are probably going to be slower because working full time is _exhausting_.
> 
> Second off, this part is from Leia's POV.
> 
> Third off, I made up a last name for Sabé. 
> 
> The last two should be fairly obvious once you start reading.

Two weeks after Leia turned ten, she got a new tutor.

Ms. Naeva was different from her other tutors. Leia couldn’t quite tell how or why, but she knew. There was something special about her. The way she looked at Leia sometimes like she was the brightest star in the galaxy even though something about the way the woman’s eyes shined made her think of sadness – not like when it rained and she couldn’t play outside, but the kind that echoed, like when someone left and never came back.

(That’s happened a few times before. People around the palace would leave – the gardener, the pilot, the guard. She asked her father once when her old nanny had been gone for more than a month. His eyes got dark and he pressed his lips and all Leia could feel was the hopeless _grief_ spilling out of him. So much so that she didn’t even hear his answer.

Leia stopped asking after that.)

Ms. Naeva was different because she didn’t treat Leia like a princess. She used all of the titles and ceremony when they were in public, of course, but Leia could always tell when she was hiding a grin behind her neutral expression or when she hid her desire to yell at someone behind a polite smile.

When they were alone, Leia was allowed to ask what she wanted and say what she pleased. Ms. Naeva always called her by name when they were alone, never “Princess,” never “Your Highness.” She was only ever just Leia with Ms. Naeva. And she rather liked it that way, even if the differences confused her sometimes.

It was like how her parents were “Mama” and “Papa” in private and “Your Majesty” and “Viceroy” in public.

“You are in a position of importance, Leia,” Ms. Naeva would say, “That means in public, there are certain expectations that you must meet. But when you are in private, with your family and friends, then you are not beholden to those expectations.”

Leia understood. Even if she didn’t like it. Some of these people were not nice at all, like a lot of the people who visited with Papa from the Core. They were rude and mean and Leia didn’t like a lot of them.

Ms. Naeva just smiled at her when she mentioned it, a strange glint in her eyes that Leia didn’t quite understand. “You will often encounter people you don’t like, little one. The important part is to make sure that they absolutely adore you.”

Leia tilted her head to the side, brow furrowed. How in the world was that supposed to work? It didn’t make much sense. “Why?”

“Because then they will give you exactly what you want without question,” Ms. Naeva said, “Politics are a dangerous and complicated game, Leia. And I am here to ensure it is one you know how to play.”

* * *

Leia looked at the blaster in her hands skeptically.

Today’s lesson had not started in the usual way with books and lectures. Ms. Naeva had taken her to one of the more secluded gardens in the palace. There were four droids there; small round things that she remembered seeing the guards use for practice once or twice.

It’s not that she’s never seen a blaster before. It’s just, well.

“Are you _sure_ Papa told you to teach me how to shoot?”

Alderaan was peaceful.

They didn’t believe war or violence was a way to solve problems. It was something she’d been told her whole life – not something she’d always agreed with (there have been moments where she’d wanted nothing more than to punch someone in their smug face; the Emperor was at the top of her list) but it’s something that was very much a part of her and her culture.

Ms. Naeve tilted her head in acknowledgement from where she was adjusting the droids’ settings. “Your father asked me to teach you everything I know,” she said simply, “This is something I know.”

Leia frowned. “But on Alderaan, we don’t believe in violence. We always try to find a peaceful solution.”

Her teacher looked up at that, her solemn expression surprising Leia. “And what do you do when there is no peaceful solution?” she asked, “When diplomacy fails and no amount of negotiation will ever work? What then?”

Leia pressed her lips together and looked back down to the blaster in her hands. It was a small, delicate looking thing. Silver, with smooth edges and curved lines. It was hard to believe that something like this could be so dangerous.

A hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up into her tutor’s soft eyes. “Leia, not wanting to fight is not a weakness,” Ms. Naeva said, “There is no easy answer. And if it is, then it is most likely the wrong one.”

“If the right thing were easy, then everyone would do it,” Leia murmured. It was something Mama said often.

Ms. Naeva smiled. “I am here to teach you, Leia. I will give you all the skills you will need to survive. But it is your decision whether or not you use them,” she said, “It’s always better to have the knowledge and be able to make a choice than it is to know nothing and have no choice at all.”

Leia nodded. That made sense. She looked up, new fire in her eyes. “Show me.”

* * *

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Leia cried, frustrated, “The blockade doesn’t serve any purpose in this scenario!”

“It does,” Ms. Naeva said calmly, “It is a show of power, of strength.”

“But there is no logical reason for the blockade to exist,” Leia insisted. The situation Ms. Naeva presented her with made no sense. The planet in question was peaceful, with no means to fight back and there was no reason – politically or economically – to cut off its trade routes.

Her tutor didn’t seem to agree. She merely raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed. “So?”

Anger burned in her stomach and she felt her cheeks heat. She held herself back from stomping her foot like a child having a tantrum. Barely. It was frustrating. The hypothetical situations she was usually presented with had always seems so straight forward. This one was not. And she didn’t like it.

“You have two options,” Ms. Naeva continued, seeming oblivious to her frustration, “You can stay and be pressured into signing a treaty that will allow the blockade or you can flee and seek help from the Senate.”

Leia collapsed back into her chair, arms crossed over her chest, a harsh frown on her face as she mulled over her choices. If she chose the first option, she would likely be imprisoned until she agreed to sign the treaty. But if she did that, there would be no more use for her and she would likely be killed – and she would be no use to anyone dead.

The second option sounded much more logical. But she would also be leaving her people. Not to mention she was well aware of the fact that the Senate was slow to act having been exposed to it for most of her life. If the Emperor could not be swayed (and he rarely was) to the cause, there was no point. The Senate held no power, not really, so bringing the case before it was a fairly useless course of action. She would be leaving her people to get caught up in politics that would be the equivalent of talking to a duracrete wall.

Haltingly, she explained her thoughts – neither of those options were good.

But Ms. Naeva was not moved. “They are the only ones you have.”

Leia frowned.

She didn’t know the answer.

* * *

“Is something wrong, Leia?”

She looked up at her mother’s question. Seeing her parents’ concerned expressions, Leia put her fork down with a sigh.

“Not exactly,” she said, gesturing helplessly, “I just – Ms. Naeva gave me a problem today that I…don’t know how to solve.”

Her father raised a brow. “Normally you wouldn’t let something like this bother you.”

Leia made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. “I’ve been thinking about it all day and I feel like I haven’t gotten any closer to finding a solution!”

“Perhaps if you explained what you were thinking it would help,” Mama said.

Leia looked between her parents. They both smiled at her. She knew they wouldn’t give her the answer; that would defeat the purpose of the exercise. But she’d seen Mama listen to Papa’s proposals for the Senate and Papa listen to Mama’s speeches. Carefully, she laid out the scenario that Ms. Naeva had given her.

She watched as something knowing flashed across Papa’s eyes, a slight smile tugging at his lips as if he was remembering something years past. He wore the same expression when he and Mama talked about her toddler years. But there was something sadder about it, older. Whoever Papa was remembering, they were very important.

“Well,” he said as Leia finished explaining her two options, “What do you think?”

“I think that I lose no matter what I choose,” Leia answered.

Mama smiled – but it wasn’t her smile. Not the one for her and Papa. This was the one she wore in Court. This was her Queen smile. “Losing is not an option in this scenario, child mine,” she said.

Leia groaned, falling back in her chair. “I know!”

“You’re over complicating it, dearheart,” Mama continued, “I think the situation can be boiled down to a much simpler question.”

Leia’s brow furrowed. “What?”

Mama’s smile grew warm, but there was durasteel in her eyes. Papa was the same, eyes full of warmth and mischief and knowing.

“The question, dear Leia, is this,” Mama said, “What do you do when faced with two impossible options?”

* * *

A week later, Leia was still thinking.

“Do you have an answer?” Ms. Naeva asked.

Leia sighed. “No,” she grumbled.

Her tutor just chuckled at her. “Here,” she said, “Let’s run through the kata I showed you yesterday; it might help you think.”

Leia liked this kata. It was smoother and flowed easily than others she had tried. Ms. Naeva said it was best to be familiar with all available options even after picking a focus. The other kata seemed to…choppy to her. The movements felt jerky and unnatural. But this one felt right.

“It’s based on a Jedi kata,” Ms. Naeva told her quietly after their first session with this particular form.

“You knew the Jedi?” Leia asked, voice hushed in awe, eyes alight with excitement.

Ms. Naeva gave her a melancholy smile. “Yes,” she said, “I worked with them often when I was on Coruscant. I knew several of them personally. You pick up a few things.”

Following the motion of the kata, Leia felt peace settle around her. She didn’t have to think or speak, she just moved. Her body flowed from one stance to the next, easily and gracefully as if it were a dance. When she finished and her arms lowered into the rest position, Ms. Naeva was wearing a smile.

“Very good, Leia,” she said, “Let’s take a break.”

They wandered over to one of the small ponds in the garden, Leia sipping some water and nibbling on the fruit Ms. Naeva gave her. Her muscles ached pleasantly, her mind humming with the same accomplishment she felt every time she successfully completed a kata.

“Still no answer?” Ms. Naeva asked after a long, content silence.

Leia shook her head. “No,” she said, though the admission didn’t frustrate her as much now as it had earlier, “I spoke with my parents though, and Mama says that I’m over thinking it.”

Ms. Naeva just hummed, her expression giving nothing away. After a moment, she spoke.

“My home planet is much like Alderaan,” she said.

Leia blinked at the sudden change of topic. “Where are you from?”

Ms. Naeva smiled, fond and wistful. “Naboo,” she answered, “It’s beautiful there, just as it is here. Peaceful. It’s more water than mountains though.” She sighed, eyes distant with memory. “Swimming in the lakes during the summer, lying out to dry on the sand…those are some of my fondest memories.”

Leia drew her legs underneath her as she tried to picture it. “It sounds nice,” she said, she’d never had the opportunity for such a thing – as Princess, she was often busy.

Ms. Naeva shot her a glance, eyes teasing, “Perhaps I’ll take you one day.”

Leia grinned. “I’d like that.”

Her tutor hummed. “Naboo is a planet rich with water. We are taught from an early age to respect it,” she said.

“Water?” she asked, her brow furrowed.

Ms. Naeva laughed. “Yes. Off worlders always think it’s strange,” she said, “But you must understand, Leia, Naboo is mostly water. One of the first things we are ever taught is how to swim. One of our native races is aquatic. Water is everywhere on Naboo.”

“When you say it like that, it makes sense,” Leia said, “Alderaan has no shortage of water, but here it’s just something that is.”

Ms. Naeva nodded. “It’s a cultural thing,” she explained, “You cannot expect every planet to adhere to Alderaani understanding and customs. Each planet has their own culture, their own beliefs and you must respect each one – even if you don’t agree with it.”

Leia nodded. This was something her parents had been telling her since she was old enough to enter Mama’s Court. “But Alderaan and Naboo are close, aren’t they?”

“Yes. Our two planets have a long history together. But that doesn’t make us the same people,” Ms. Naeva said, “We view something as simple as water differently.”

Leia hummed and looked down into the pond, wondering what her teacher saw that she did not. “Well how do you see it?” she asked.

Ms. Naeva smiled, a pleased light entering her eyes. “There are stories told to us as children,” she explained, “Water is life and death, cool and warm, giving and taking. It is a series of contradictions that are entirely unpredictable. But there is one thing that always stays the same.”

“What?”

“Water does not resist,” Ms. Naeva said simply, “It flows. If I plunge my hand in water,” and she did just that, her fingers easily sliding through the pond’s surface, “all I feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But,” here her tutor paused, drawing her hand back and looking at Leia with a solemn gravity she didn’t really understand, “water always goes where it wants to, and, in the end, nothing can stand against it. Water is patient. It can carve canyons through the land, can wear away stone into nothing given time.”

Ms. Naeva reached out and pressed wet fingertips to her cheek. “Remember that, Leia. Remember that you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”

* * *

Leia sighed, letting her head fall forward into her book.

Intergalactic law, while something that fascinated her, was not something one should read about for hours on end. She felt like her brain was melting.

“Time for a break,” she declared, pushing away from her desk and walking over to her balcony.

The sun was low in the sky, not quite setting yet, but low enough that the sky was already giving hints of changing. The air was crisp and smelt of rain. In the distance, she could see Ishanii Lake.

 _Water is patient_.

After speaking with Ms. Naeva that day, she’d thought of her tutor’s words often. Though it was not explicitly stated, Leia knew that she had been given a hint.

_What do you do when faced with two impossible options?_

If both options are impossible – and they were, Leia had looked at both of them from every possible angle and neither of them worked – then she couldn’t pick either of them. They were the only options she had been give and she couldn’t pick either of them. Not if she wanted to solve the problem.

_If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it._

Go around it. Go around the problem. But how?

She couldn’t stay – that option would end up with her imprisoned or dead. But if she left, she would get tied up in pointless politics.

If she couldn’t take either of the options given to her…

_It’s always better to have the knowledge and be able to make a choice than it is to know nothing and have no choice at all._

…then she would make her own.

* * *

“I figured it out,” Leia declared boldly the next morning.

Ms. Naeva raised her brows. “Oh? And which option would you take?”

“Neither,” Leia said firmly, forcing herself to stay still under her teacher’s scrutinizing gaze.

“They are the only options you have,” Ms. Naeva reminded.

“But neither of them would work,” Leia replied, “Staying would mean I’d be playing into their hands and leaving would be pointless. Either way my people would suffer.”

Ms. Naeva’s face remained blank. “You have to pick one,” she said.

“No,” Leia replied, a giddy smile appearing on her face, “I don’t.”

Her tutor raised a brow in question.

“I’ll pick my own path,” Leia continued, “I can’t wait around for someone else to come save me or save my people for me. I’ll save them myself.”

There was a long moment of silence. Leia held her tutor’s gaze, refusing to back down or shift nervously. She was right, she knew she was right. It had taken her a while, but she had figured it out.

A slow, pleased smile crept across Ms. Naeva’s face. “Well done, Leia,” she said.

Leia beamed.

“And you are correct. As Queen you will be both your people’s sword and shield. There will come a time when politics will fail you. When help from off world is not an option. When the only one who can protect you is you,” Ms. Naeva said, “Queens are a force of nature, Leia. They are water. They are the sea. They are a storm. Queens scream, Leia. They rage. If you harm what is theirs, they will drown you.”

Leia nodded. She knew this. Mama was a Queen. A Queen needed to be soft and gentle and kind. But at her core, a Queen was harder than durasteel.

Ms. Naeva smiled.

“Tell me, Leia. What kind of Queen will you be?”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, here is the story [tag](http://angelrider13.tumblr.com/tagged/naboo-queens) on my tumblr.


End file.
